2016 Republican Presidential Debate: Reagan Library Edition

ABC News' live blog of the Republican presidential debate - the second debate of the 2016 election cycle. Eleven candidates are slated to be on stage for the main debate at 8 p.m. Eastern tonight at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library hosted by CNN. The four bottom-tier candidates will be in an undercard debate at 6 p.m. Eastern.

According to Facebook, here are the top social moments and top candidates of the second Republican presidential debate that were mentioned.

Top Social Moments of the debate on Facebook:

1. Carly Fiorina responds to Donald Trumps comments on her
appearance

2. Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina, and Chris Christie debate the
merits of their business track-records

WHY THE DNC CHAIR IS CRASHING THE REPUBLICANS' PARTY

ABC News caught up with DNC
chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz ahead of tonight’s debate at the Ronald
Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California – a location which
Wasserman Schultz said is ripe with irony.

“He had a very different outlook and
philosophy than today’s Republican Party, so I think the irony of this crop of
candidates comparing themselves to him is truly striking,” Wasserman Schultz
told ABC News’ Rick Klein.

Wasserman Schultz pointed to
Reagan’s legacy in granting amnesty to immigrants and negotiating with
countries with which the US was not friendly as contrasts with today’s crop of
candidates.

But when it comes to contrasting
the current GOP candidates with each other – and specifically frontrunner
Donald Trump -- Wasserman Schultz came up short in identifying differences.

“I don’t think there’s much of any
distinction between any of those folks who are up there,” she said when asked
what distinctions she sees between Trump and the rest of the field. “What I’ve
watched over the last few weeks in the summer of Trump is the other 15
candidates who are remaining are doing everything they can to out Trump him,
and you clearly don’t out-Trump Trump.”

As one of the token Democrats in
the audience tonight, Wasserman Schultz said she’s looking forward to letting
the debate unravel as it will.

“Letting this debate play out on
it’s own and taking a step back and just watching the gaping horror of the
American people react to it, I think they’re doing us a favor,” she said. “They
can’t debate enough.”

From our partners at FIVETHIRTYEIGHT - a chart of the number of tweets or retweets by Trump attacking other GOP candidates and vice versa.Check out their live coverage of the GOP debate:http://53eig.ht/1KgVJ25

Jim
Gilmore was not invited to the undercard debate because he could not manage an
average of 1 percent in at least three national polls between now and mid-July. However, he has been live tweeting during the debate.

SMALL PROTEST IN FRONT OF DNC HEADQUARTERS OVER DEBATES

ABC's MARYALICE PARKS: It
may be Republican debate night, but this afternoon about 100
Democrats gathered outside of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in
Washington, DC, to protest their party's handling of debates this election
cycle.

The
group included Gov. Martin O'Malley's campaign manager and some senior campaign
staff. O'Malley has been calling for more debates and an end to the so-called
"exclusivity clause." His campaign was ready today with posters and
signs.

O'Malley's
campaign manager Dave Hamrick told ABC News he thinks the DNC will cave, saying
all of this pressure and disagreement is not "sustainable."

JEB BUSH SAYS A PRAYER – OR TWO – BEFORE THE DEBATE

ABC’s CANDACE SMITH: As the Republican presidential debate inches
closer, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush prepped, not with notecards,
but with the help of a higher power.

Continuing the tradition Bush started last year, he attended noon
mass at nearby St. Jude’s Catholic Church with his wife Columba and youngest
son, Jeb Jr.

“ I prayed to my creator to be strong,” Bush told ABC News.

In a few hours, Bush will have the opportunity to try and regain
his footing in a race that has been slipping away from him. The one-time
frontrunner, he now trails Donald Trump and Ben Carson in national polls.

He says that the debate location itself-- the Ronald Reagan
Presidential Library -- will actually give him strength today. Bush’s
father, George H.W. Bush, of course, served as Reagan's Vice-President.

When asked if Reagan would be on his mind tonight, Bush said that he
would.

"He's my hero,” Bush said. "The fact that it's at the
library is really inspiring to me.”

Early this morning, Bush and and his son went for an early-morning
hike to exercise away any pre-debate jitters.

CANDIDATES PLAY FOR SIDEBAR STATUS

ABC’s RICK KLEIN: The most common refrain among campaign
operatives in advance of the debate: Does it really have to be about Trump?

The truth is that it does, and they know that it does. To
the extent that these are predictable affairs, it’s reasonable to expect a
feistier debate, not so much about Trump as it is about who will stand up to
Trump.

But another intriguing storyline with be the candidate who
plays for the sidebar. Several aides to rival campaigns have cited Ben Carson’s
surprise breakout in the last debate as a template – and evidence that you can
“win” even a debate in this environment without just mixing it up with Trump.

One aide to a campaign with this longer-game strategy
laughed when I asked about campaign strategy, pointing out that these are
dynamic and hard-to-game-plan events: “Everyone watches too many ‘West Wing’
reruns!”

RAND PAUL: "WE'RE ALL IN AND READY FOR COMBAT"

ABC’s JESSICA HOPPER and JOSH HASKELL: Sen. Rand
Paul arrived at a shooting range in Simi
Valley this morning. Wearing blue jeans and Ray
Ban sunglasses, Paul shot two rifles and a
pistol. Paul elected to shoot a rifle
first because he said his neck was bothering him. He also asked for ear
muffs towards the end. After examining his target, some of which were labeled
"IRS Tax Code," Paul talked to reporters.He
laughed when asked if shooting was helping him relax ahead of the
debate. He said he has only shot around 10 times in his life but enjoys
it.

He used the word ‘combat’ several times to describe tonight's GOP
debate and discussed his plan to take down GOP
frontrunner Donald Trump, saying that ultimately people would get past
Trump's celebrity and that it is important to expose Trump for who he is.

“He's recently come to join the Republican Party and he's
trying to come to join as a conservative but I think there's a great deal of
evidence pointing in the opposite direction that he's really not a conservative
and so I think we will have that debate,” said Paul, whohas repeatedly called Trump a fake conservative.

Paul went on to argue, "Ultimately
the issues will be a problem for Trump when people get beyond the celebrity. I
do think that his attack on Fiorina probably started to wake people up. I think
Governor Perry leaving the race started to wake people up that my goodness, a
governor of a large Republican state is leaving, but we're keeping a reality TV
Star who really shows no evidence of really being serious about anything."

The Kentucky Senator was asked
about Gov. Chris Christie, who he fought with during the first Republican
debate.

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HOW HILLARY CLINTON’S CAMPAIGN IS SPENDING DEBATE NIGHT

The
Clinton campaign has organized over 100 “Women for Hillary” GOP debate-night
watch parties in roughly 20 cities across the country for women supporters a
and volunteers to watch the debate.

According to the campaign, “while the Republican
candidates bend over backwards to offer extreme, out-of-touch and out-of-date
positions, women supporters will discuss Hillary’s record as a champion of
women and girls.”

SCOTT WALKER’S DEBATE DAY
DISCOUNT

ABC’s MEREDITH MCGRAW:Is Scott Walker’s campaign holding a going out of
business sale?

That’s what Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Holly
Shulman asked on Twitter today
after the Walker campaign advertised 40 percent off all merchandise in its
online store for one day only.

Among the items for sale:
Red, white and blue bumper stickers (two for $10), limited edition
signed rally placards ($75), and “Walker for President” embroidered fleece
pullovers that retail for $65.00.As the website notes, “All proceeds are
invested in our campaign to elect Scott Walker for President in 2016.”

Walker had been riding high in the polls both nationally and in
Iowa, but as Donald Trump took more of the spotlight this summer, Walker’s
support has crumpled. Recent national polls put him in the low single digits.Tonight,
Walker takes the stage at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in an effort
to win back some of that early support.

But Walker, who is viewed as the Midwestern
foil to Trump’s gilded, showy style, isn’t closing shop yet. Despite canceling
campaign events in Michigan and California next week, he will continue to
campaign throughout Iowa and South Carolina.

And Walker’s campaign isn’t the only trying
to move some merchandise in honor of tonight’s debate. Ted
Cruz is offering his supporters 20 percent off items in his campaign store like
camo print hats.

HOW JEB BUSH IS PREPPING FOR TONIGHT’S DEBATE

ABC’s CANDACE SMITH: The Jeb Bush campaign laid out some
goals for the former Florida governor going into tonight’s debate.

1. Sell
the proven conservative record

2. Demonstrate
he has a plan to reform a broken Washington

3. Offer
hopeful and optimistic message

4. Distinguish
from Trump in those categories

According
to the campaign, as he did before the last debate, Bush has held debate and
policy briefings with staff and advisers over the past several weeks. The
sessions have focused on a range of domestic and foreign policy issues.

Jeb is focused on delivering a message that will resonate with
voters over the long haul, one that focuses on substance over style.

Bush has outlined a series of substantive policy proposals that
will comprise the beginning of his agenda as President, including plans to
overhaul the U.S. tax code and lower rates; secure our borders; reform the
Veterans Administration; take on Washington special interests through lobbying
reform, procurement reform and civil service reform; and strengthening
cybersecurity.